PSP Delegation Visits Geagea as Berri's Aide Meets Hariri

A Progressive Socialist Party delegation dispatched by MP Walid Jumblat held talks Thursday in Maarab with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.

The delegation comprised MPs Akram Shehayyeb and Wael Abu Faour and the meeting was held in the presence of LF secretary general Chantal Sarkis.

A terse statement issued by the LF said the two-hour talks tackled "the proposed electoral laws, especially the hybrid law which remains the best one."

The conferees also "agreed on the need to continue contacts with all parties in order to reach a new electoral law as soon as possible."

Jumblat had held talks earlier in the day in Clemenceau with Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil.

Speaker Nabih Berri's aide Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil meanwhile met with Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the Grand Serail.

Talks tackled “the ongoing contacts regarding the electoral law,” Hariri's office said.

In an interview aired later in the day by al-Jadeed TV, Jumblat described an electoral format proposed by Bassil and involving sectarian voting in the first round as “outdated,” while noting that he would accept the proportional representation system “if it is based on certain districts that take minorities into account.”